‘Can You Afford It?’

This chapter is inspired by the Lo-ShengSanatorium（樂生療養院) (hereafter referred to asLo-Sheng) Preservation Movement in Taipei. Lo-Shengwas a facility established in the 1930s to housepatients suffering from Hansen's disease (what usedto be called leprosy), and it is located in what isnow the Xinzhuang District of New Taipei City,Taiwan. The sanatorium was constructed by theJapanese colonial government to isolate leprosypatients from the general public. In 2002, a seriesof preservation actions took place when plans wereannounced to locate the depot of the Taipei MassRapid Transport (MRT) Xinzhuang Line at the site ofthe sanatorium. In April 2002, two months before theconstruction began, the Lo-Sheng Alliance for OldTree Protection in Xinzhuang was established bygroups including the Xinzhuang Community College,Xinzhuang Culture and History Association, andLo-Sheng residents. This alliance successfullyadvocated for saving many old trees on the site andraised awareness of Lo-Sheng's cultural value forXinzhuang residents, the media, and other civilsociety groups. Then, in 2004, Youth for Lo-Sheng（青年樂生聯盟）was established by students mainly from theNational Yang- Ming University, Chang GungUniversity, and Kaohsiung Medical University, topreserve all the buildings and outdoor spaces onsite. However, public authorities – including theTaipei City Government's Department of Rapid TransitSystems (DRTS), which led the construction, and theDepartment of Cultural Affairs of Taipei County (nowNew Taipei City), which oversaw cultural affairs –denied the groups’ petition, claiming that thepreservation efforts would delay the construction ofinfrastructure critical for the country.